Overview for
graphql

GraphQL is a technology which is a modern and uniform alternative to the wealth of different RESTful interfaces. REST was introduced back in 2000 and is only an architectural style, not a specification. In REST any self-respecting developer is used to versioning, but in GraphQL there is no concept of versioning in the same sense.

The technology world is filled with hype spiced up with jargon. Each passing day there is a new technology that supercedes the previous one. For the last few years RESTful APIs have been the hottest thing.

But today many vow to the name of GraphQL and dance on the graves of REST APIs. But what exactly is GraphQL and how is it different from REST APIs?

GraphQL is a data query language developed by Facebook since 2012. In September 2015 Facebook released it to the public domain. GraphQL is essentially an alternative to REST and despite the name, it's not a Graph Database Query language like Cypher from the Neo4j project.